AUBURN, Ala. — Kris Frost made his first career start last week against Texas A&M. He might make that two games in a row this Saturday if Auburn's two-deep is correct. The Tigers released an updated depth chart Wednesday, which listed Frost as a co-starter at middle linebacker alongside Jake Holland. Frost tallied six tackles versus the Aggies last week, doing so in place of Holland, who suffered a concussion last week which forced him to sit out most of practice leading up to the game.

AUBURN, Ala. — Kris Frost made his first career start last week against Texas A&M.

He might make that two games in a row this Saturday if Auburn's two-deep is correct. The Tigers released an updated depth chart Wednesday, which listed Frost as a co-starter at middle linebacker alongside Jake Holland. Frost tallied six tackles versus the Aggies last week, doing so in place of Holland, who suffered a concussion last week which forced him to sit out most of practice leading up to the game.

Head coach Gus Malzahn was asked about the two-player battle at the Mike spot, and found time to praise Frost.

He did not, however, state who had the edge.

"He played very solid. He did a good job, obviously," Malzahn said of Frost. "The big play on the sideline was a huge play. That quarterback (Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel) hadn’t been tracked down very often in that situation before."

When Frost was asked about the ongoing competition Tuesday, he said Holland was still the starter.

"Basically it's all about me doing all I can to be the best I can be for this team right now," he said Tuesday, "and right now that's not really important. It's all about winning games and doing all I can to contribute to the team."

While there was a shift with the middle linebacker pecking order, the same couldn't be said of right tackle, where Patrick Miller is still listed as the starter.

The past two weeks, that has meant nothing. When kickoff arrived, it was Avery Young in the starting lineup, not Miller. The sophomore's absence has been shrouded in secrecy. Malzahn has only said it has been "off field issues" that has kept Miller away from the team the past two weeks; against Western Carolina, he wasn't on the sideline, and last Saturday versus Texas A&M, he didn't travel with the team.

Following Wednesday's practice, Malzahn said Miller took a few reps with the first-team offense.

"Today it was Avery Young, but Patrick Miller was switching off," he said. But when asked if Miller would return this week, Malzahn said he hadn't made a decision yet.

The Tigers made a few other changes to their depth chart.

Ryan White, who had played solely at corner before last week's injury to Josh Holsey, was listed as a backup to Ryan Smith at boundary safety.

Malzahn said White getting a chance to work at safety during practice — which he didn't do one week ago, since Holsey's injury occurred on the final play of last Thursday's practice — has helped the senior immensely.

"I think anytime you get practice reps, it’s going to be different," Malzahn said. "He never had any practice reps and played a big game at safety and did some good things. I think he’ll get more comfortable as he goes and he’ll get more comfortable each game."

War Eagle Extra

Mike Niziolek joins the Ledger-Enquirer after spending the past three years with MLive.com. The past year he covered Eastern Michigan University athletics, including football and recruiting. He also filled in as a backup writer for the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and University of Michigan. Mike is a 2004 graduate of Michigan State.